Four leading housing charities have welcomed an announcement that the law is to be changed to protect private tenants who face sudden homelessness when their landlord is repossessed, but warn that there must be no delay in introducing this protection.

The announcement by the Government comes in response to a campaign by the four organisations - Crisis, Citizens Advice, Shelter and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) – after they raised the alarm over the growing number of private tenants who face eviction because their landlord has defaulted on mortgage payments and the lender has taken possession of the property. This is often with little or no warning to the tenant, and through no fault of their own.

The organisations estimate that thousands of tenants in the private rented sector could be at risk of losing their homes in this way and have been warning that urgent government action is needed to avoid a potential crisis. In response, over 100 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for changes to the law to tackle the problem.

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As the law stands, tenants whose landlords are repossessed have none of the legal rights that usually protect tenants from losing their homes without notice. Advisers report seeing cases where the first the tenant knows about the situation is when the bailiffs knock on the door.

In some cases their belongings have been put out on the street and the locks have been changed. In other cases they have no or very limited access to their things, including personal and valuable items. In one case a family with nowhere to go had to sleep in a car before moving into overcrowded and temporary emergency hostel accommodation a long distance from the children's schools.

The organisations have been calling for a change in the law which would mean courts would have the power to defer the possession to allow the tenant to find other suitable accommodation and are delighted at the Government's response to their campaign.

Sarah Webb, Chief Executive of CIH, said: "We are pleased with this announcement to afford tenants, who through no fault of their own could become homeless, a much needed breathing space in order to secure alternative accommodation. We urge government to ensure these changes to the law are implemented swiftly and without delay."

(CD/JM)